Wooster resident Gordon Giffin gets hand-made quilt from daughter in shape of city he loves

By LYDIA GEHRINGLiving EditorPublished: October 28, 2012 4:00AM

WOOSTER -- Long-time Wooster resident Gordon Giffin thought he was just taking his daughter, Dee Giffin Flaherty, to the Wayne County Fair to see Kenny Rogers. But as they were walking through Buss Hall to view the flowers and handmade items, one particular piece caught his eye. A unique quilt was hanging over the door, and when he realized what it was, he was shocked beyond words.

There, staring back at him, was a wall-hanging made by Flaherty of "Gordon's Wooster," a map of the place he called home for the past 50 years, marked with special places he's enjoyed visiting over the years.

"I didn't realized what was going on," Giffin said. "I was pretty stunned. I wish I could put it into words now."

The quilt depicts an outline of Wooster, marked with some of the most well-known street names and Giffin's favorite places throughout the city, including the fairgrounds, Coccia House and Wooster High School. Everything links back to the Giffin homestead on Gasche Street, where he and his late wife, Vicki, raised their five children.

Flaherty created the gift for her dad after she decided to make something that could "embrace the things my dad loves -- his family, his friends and Wooster."

"I could do a map and sort of put all of those things together," she said.

A Pittsburgh resident, Flaherty came up with the idea of having it hung at the fair. She learned, though, that if a person doesn't live in Wayne County, they aren't permitted to enter items to be judged -- which was the furthest thing from her mind anyway, she said.

"I never wanted to have it entered in the fair for judging," she said. "I talked to the fair office and they said they could let me put it up and just not be judged. But then they said there were so many quilts they didn't know if it could be shown. They ended up hanging it over the door, which was just so wonderful. They were so generous to me."

She spent most of her summer quilting, but giving a gift that means so much is worth the time she spent.

"I loved him so much while I was doing it and it just made me so happy," said Flaherty, as she fought back the emotions of what creating the quilt meant to her. "I was having imaginary conversations in my head with him while I was quilting so I actually didn't even talk to him for like two weeks. My quilts aren't very good, but they have a lot of heart and not a lot of art. I don't pretend to be a good quilter, but it's a way to be able to bond with my family."

Giffin, who moved to Wooster in the 1960s after purchasing a pharmacy, which he eventually named Giffin RX Center, said he couldn't have picked a better place to raise his family and make his home for the past 50 years. He plans to stick around for awhile longer too, and he will have the place he loves so much hanging on his wall as he continues to enjoy his life on Gasche.